Cartons for encasing and dispensing multiple articles such as soft drink cans or bottles are useful for enabling consumers to transport, store, and access the articles for consumption. The consumer typically prefers the flexibility to easily access the articles one at a time. To that end, some cartons have dispensers which allow one or more articles to be removed, while continuing to encase the remaining articles. The consumer tears out a portion of the carton to form an opening from which articles may be dispensed.
Such beverage cartons with article dispensers are known in the art. Typically, the article dispenser is defined by a relatively large detachable section of carton that is torn away from the carton by breaking a perforated line. It can be difficult to separate a single detachable section, as the force required to remove the detachable section can easily cause the detachable section to be undesirably ripped into two or more pieces. The user then must tear away the individual pieces or use the dispenser with the remnants of the detachable section in place.
What is needed, therefore, is a carton that is provided with an improved article dispenser having an opening that is large enough to remove articles one or more at a time, but is more convenient to open. Such a carton should have a user-friendly means for grasping and removing the removable portion, as well as a reliable article stopper.